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As it happened: Derry City v Drogheda, FAI Cup final

Derry faced Drogheda in the League of Ireland’s showpiece event.

Derry City 0-2 Drogheda

Hello, and welcome to today’s liveblog.

It’s a huge game for both sides.

Both come into the game after somewhat frustrating seasons, with Derry narrowly missing out in the title race and Drogheda still needing to win a promotion-relegation contest to retain their Premier Division status.

A win for either today would go some way towards making up for those disappointments.

Derry are looking to win the cup for the seventh time in their history. Their most recent triumph in the final against Shelbourne was only two years ago.

Meanwhile, Drogheda’s only cup final victory was in 2005, though they have been runners-up on three occasions,

patrick-mceleney-ciaran-coll-and-daniel-kelly Derry’s Patrick McEleney, Ciarán Coll and Daniel Kelly. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO

Who do you think will win today?


Poll Results:

Drogheda United (77)
Derry City (68)

kevin-doherty-and-ruaidhri-higgins Drogheda United manager Kevin Doherty and Derry manager Ruaidhri Higgins. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO

drogheda-united-fans-ahead-of-the-game Drogheda United fans ahead of the game. Nick Elliott / INPHO Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO

It’s a fantastic atmosphere in the Aviva and plenty of flares are being set off.

We won’t get the official attendance for a while, but the stadium is looking pretty packed.

A message from the tannoy has urged fans to stop lighting flares.

It’s delaying the start of kick-off, with smoke filling the pitch.

We’re underway…

5 mins: Half chance for Drogheda.

A long ball is flicked on and Pierrot gets on the end of it, but Connolly is sharp to the danger and makes a timely interception before the attacker can get a shot on goal.

9 mins: There haven’t been too many incidents of note so far.

As expected, Drogheda have begun cautiously, and Derry have not created much.

18 mins: It remains very scrappy and largely uneventful.

Derry are still dominating the ball but all their football is being played in front of Drogheda’s well-organised backline.

drogheda-fans Drogheda fans. Nick Elliott / INPHO Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO

26 mins: There’s a break in play as Drogheda goalkeeper Luke Dennison receives treatment.

Kevin Doherty will likely be the happier of the two managers as his side have restricted Derry to few chances.

As I type, the ball falls to Markey on the edge of the area and his low shot takes a deflection and is palmed wide by Maher.

27 mins: Derry finally threaten.

McMullan’s low cross finds Mullen, whose flicked effort is comfortably saved by Dennison.

31 mins: Derry carve out another chance.

Diallo opens up the defence, playing a one-two with McEleney on the edge of area.

However, the midfielder’s low finish is easily saved by Dennison.

34 mins: Bolger gets on the end of a deep free kick and his header is well saved by Maher.

It wouldn’t have counted anyway as the linesman has the flag up for offside.

DROGHEDA 1-0 DERRY (QUINN 37)

The underdogs are ahead!

Shane Farrell’s inch-perfect free kick is met by Quinn at the back-post who volleys it home unmarked after losing Connolly.

There is a significant stoppage after that goal, with more flares being lit.

42 mins: Derry are applying more pressure now.

A Duffy cross causes havoc in the Drogheda area, but the goalscorer Quinn is in the right place to clear for a corner.

45 mins: There is another lengthy stoppage.

Brennan and McEleney are receiving treatment after a clash of heads when challenging for the ball in the air.

There will be seven minutes of stoppage time.

Unfortunately for Derry, McEleney is unable to continue.

Patching will come on in his place.

Brennan has a bandage on his head and it looks like he will play on. 

He also gets a booking for the incident.

HALF-TIME: DROGHEDA 1-0 DERRY CITY

So at half-time, Drogheda will be much the happier of the two teams.

Kevin Doherty’s side have turned this game into an ugly contest, which likely would have been the plan beforehand.

Quinn took his goal well, capitalising on some lax defending.

Derry have been flaky at times this season, and so far, it has been another disappointing display from Ruaidhrí Higgins’ men.

They’ve struggled to create much, with Drogheda invariably combatting their attacks in a stop-start contest.

Losing attacking fulcrum and captain Patrick McEleney just before half-time is another big blow for the Candystripes.

Given how the first half has panned out, Drogheda might just be starting to feel it’s going to be their day.

a-member-of-the-civil-defence-removes-a-flare-form-the-pitch-after-andrew-quinn-scores A member of the Civil Defence removes a flare form the pitch after Drogheda’s Andrew Quinn scores. Nick Elliott / INPHO Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO

andrew-quinn-celebrates-after-scoring Drogheda’s Andrew Quinn celebrates after scoring. Nick Elliott / INPHO Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO

The second half has begun…

48 mins: A long throw is headed across his box by Wisdom.

James-Taylor gets on the end of it, but his close-range attempt is deflected out for a corner.

paul-mcmullan-with-ryan-brennan Derry's Paul McMullan with Ryan Brennan of Drogheda. Nick Elliott / INPHO Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO

54 mins: Mullen gets to Boyce’s low cross but he can’t generate much power into his finish, so it’s a comfortable save from Dennison.

Derry are looking more threatening in this second half and playing at a quicker tempo.

56 mins: Derry make another change.

McMullan and Mullen are off. Robertson and Whelan are on.

Penalty to Drogheda.

It’s a reckless lunge from Boyce on Kane.

DROGHEDA 2-0 DERRY CITY (JAMES-TAYLOR 57)

Douglas James-Taylor sends the goalkeeper the wrong way to double Drogheda’s advantage.

The upset is very much on now.

Having seen a replay of the penalty decision, the referee was right to penalise the Derry player.

But whether or not the contact was made inside or outside the area is borderline.

64 mins: Connolly gets his head to a corner but his effort is well over the bar much to the Drogheda fans’ delight.

Derry have not offered enough in attack, but I wouldn’t write them off yet — there is still more than half an hour to play including stoppage time and they have enough quality to score at least two goals within that period.

65 mins: Another change for Derry, and it’s an attacking one.

Boyce is replaced by Hoban.

As I type, Duffy delivers an inviting, inswinging cross that eludes everyone.

The official attendance has been confirmed as 38,723.

That’s a significant increase on the last time Derry were in the final in 2022.

Now it’s Drogheda’s turn to make a change.

Pierrot is replaced by Adam Foley.

McEleney gets booked for cynically taking down Markey as he attempts to launch a counter-attack.

We’ve seen another replay of the penalty incident and it looks like it was outside the area — that’s bound to be a big post-match talking point.

73 mins: Connolly’s prsence causes problems in the area as Duffy delivers a corner.

Brennan also gets a head on it before relieved goalkeeper Dennison claims it at the third attempt.

Another Drogheda change, meanwhile — Shane Farrell is replaced by Luke Heeney.

78 mins: Every big tackle, block and Derry mistake is being cheered by Drogheda fans.

It’s still far from insurmountable for the Candystripes but Kevin Doherty’s men continue to look very solid and have put themselves in a strong position to win this game.

82 mins: Derry make another sub.

Davenport comes on for Wisdom.

83 mins: O’Reilly has just been booked for a poor tackle on Foley.

The Candystripes’ frustration is showing as the cup is slipping away from them.

87 mins: It’s a case of anywhere will do now for Drogheda.

Kevin Doherty’s side have everyone back in their half and are booting it clear whenever they get the chance.

88 mins: Duffy’s initial cross is blocked before his second one goes straight into the hands of Dennison.

That results in more loud cheers from Drogheda fans, as their team looks to be just minutes away from lifting the cup.

90 mins: There will be five minutes of stoppage time.

Derry need a miracle now.

Drogheda’s Elicha Ahui has just been named player of the match.

Another change for Drogheda.

Deegan replaces Brennan.

90 mins: Duffy’s corner finds Davenport, but he heads over.

That’s surely that.

FULL-TIME: DROGHEDA 2-0 DERRY CITY

Well, that’s that.

A huge result for Drogheda and a day to forget for Derry City.

Kevin Doherty’s side will go into that promotion-relegation playoff full of confidence following just the second FAI Cup final triumph in their history.

For Ruaidhrí Higgins and the Candytripes, it compounds a disappointing end to the season.

Their form has just completely deserted them at the worst possible time.

People will point to the dubious penalty as the key moment in the game but Derry still struggled to lay a glove on Drogheda and the underdogs were worthy winners in the end.

Right, that’s all from me for now.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

We’ll have plenty more reaction on the site shortly.

Author
Paul Fennessy
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